Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Yesterday Is Here: Tom Waits Covers Vol. 1

Tom Waits is a covered far more than name-familiarity with the average person would suggest. Indeed, the covers of his songs are invariably more famous than the originals. A long list of A-listers have had hits with Tom's songs, including The Eagles, Rod Stewart, Bruce Springsteen, and Bob Seger. But there are plenty of Tom Waits covers you won't find on iTunes, the thousands that have been played live, but never released. This series is an attempt to give some of those covers wider-circulation, some by famous artists, others by obscure ones.

Volume one features both, with Cold War Kids and Joan Baez rubbing shoulders with Josh Ritter and Giant Sand. Of special interest are the incredible bluegrass take on Cold Water, the rocked-out Yesterday Is Here, and the piano stomp Dirt in the Ground.

Download the full set of mp3's at the bottom, or individually. The full set links should last longer than the individual ones. All available in lossless format at DimeaDozen.